Keeping a Promise
by The Average Mailman
Summary: Before Ash left the Hoenn region, he promised Max a battle. Now Ash is back and ready to test Max's skills. IDK what Genre this is.


**Hey Guys! Here's another one-shot. Hope you enjoy this one. Constructive criticism, but no flames. Review and follow please!**

 **Pokemon: Keeping a Promise**

Max Maple was excited. No, he was ecstatic. He had been waiting for this day since he had gotten his first pokemon. He looked fondly at the pokeball that held his best friend and partner. Sceptile was his strongest pokemon, especially since he could mega-evolve. Today was the day Ash came back to Hoenn to have a battle with him as he had promised before he left for his next journey. Max was still a nerd, but he had grown to almost five and a half feet tall. He had filled out quite nicely, if he did say so himself. Eight gym battles later and he was about to enter the Hoenn league. He still had a month before sign up began, but he made sure to stay on top of his game. Max was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of the ferry that Ash would be arriving on. He jumped up in excitement and tried to run over to greet Ash as soon as he got off the ship, but ended up just tripping and falling on his face in true anime style.  
"You're such a klutz." A voice said from the next bench over. He looked up and saw his sister, May Maple. She was also waiting for Ash, not to battle him, as she wasn't into battling, but to greet an old friend and the one who got her into pokemon in the first place. Some of her most enjoyable and heartfelt memories came from Ash.

"Are you ready, Max?" Ash shouted, still his usual hyperactive-self.  
"Yeah! The real question is: are you ready lose?!" Max yelled back playfully.  
They continued to banter back and forth for a while before Norman, Max's dad who was refereeing this match, sighed and asked to hurry up as he still had a lot of work to do.  
"Heh. Sorry." They both said as they rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly.  
"Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'll go easy on you." Ash called, as Max nodded his head in agreement.  
"Touche."  
They readied themselves, both for different reasons. Max readied himself to face his idol and the first person other than his dad to share his enthusiasm about pokemon, and Ash prepared himself to take on the person he saw as his little brother.  
"Go, Sceptile!"  
"Go, Pikachu!"  
Max and Ash said respectively. Sceptile came out of his pokeball in a bright flash and Pikachu jumped high in the air from Ash's shoulder before spinning and landing on the ground in front of Sceptile.  
"Show off." Max muttered under his breath.  
"Pikachu! Use Quick Attack." Max's eyes widened and he cursed quietly under his breath as he was caught off guard. He gave a sharp glance at his dad to make sure he hadn't heard. Before he could react, Pikachu had already slammed into Sceptile, and with a resounding WHAM! Sceptile went sliding backwards.  
"Sceptile! Agility and then use Energy Ball!" Sceptile responded immediately, increasing his speed before lobbing a ball of green energy.  
"Dodge and use Iron Tail!" Pikachu pursued Sceptile as his tail gained a metallic sheen. Sceptile tried to dodge the incoming attack but to no avail. Sceptile went sliding back into the wall, making an explosion of dust so no one could see if he was down or not. Ash wasn't taking any chances. He knew Max's pokemon would be strong.  
"Pikachu! Use Thunder!" Ash commanded his Pikachu, hoping to put Sceptile down before Max had the chance to mega evolve it. They waited in anticipation as the dust slowly cleared to reveal Sceptile standing, bruised and battered, but not down yet. Ash grinned, before commanding Pikachu to attack again.  
"Sceptile! Use Leafstorm, followed by Leaf Blade!" Sceptile powered up his move before unleashing a storm of leaves on Pikachu. Pikachu hurled a ball of electricity at Sceptile, before realizing it wasn't going to do anything. The ball dispersed in the hurricane of leaves and continued onwards on it's destructive path. Pikachu leapt out of the way, and Ash told his buddy to use Quick Attack and Iron Tail at the same time. He rushed in there as Sceptile leapt towards him at the same time resulting in a massive explosion from the power of the two pokemon. The smoke cleared after some time to reveal a fainted Sceptile laying in the ground and a panting Pikachu, looking tired but happy. Ash ran onto the field to pick up his pal, while Max sighed as he returned his starter pokemon. He knew it wasn't Sceptile's fault, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He walked over to Ash and shook his hand.  
"Thanks for the battle." He said, his voice sad, but also happy for the person he saw as his adoptive big brother. "I still have a lot to learn."  
Ash looked at him with those caring eyes that burned with a fiery passion and responded with, "Promise that you will always care for your pokemon."  
"I promise." 


End file.
